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January section of the Linen and Threads SAL is complete! I took some time off the cross-stitch part to make a hem stitch lined, fringed edge, for which I used scrap yarn from my earlier knitting projects. I’m much happier working on the project now, since I don’t run into runaway threads from the edges. 😉

The color difference between left and right is due to a shadow. The embroidery thread is evenly colored.

Here’s a closeup of the hem stitch border. Excuse the color difference – I clicked the pictures on different days.

Hem stitch border

I’m pretty excited to start on February. I just discovered long-armed cross stitch, and I’m using it for the border of the February section. I’ll obviously post a picture later that shows its fabulous texture. 🙂

This section is smaller when compared to last month’s, so I’m hoping to catch up. (Not keeping my fingers crossed though, since February is also shorter, making it a bit hectic so far.)

This project will not really be framed — it’ll end up as a coffee table runner. I’d originally decided on a single color for the entire project, but then I didn’t like the thought of an entire runner in a single color. On fabric up close (vs. far away on a wall, say), my eye, at least, can only differentiate so many details in a single color. So I’ll use different colors for components wherever possible. The green is new thread (my original color of choice), the green+yellow combo is from old threads, and the thread for the flowers is of a different thickness altogether so its texture is slightly different from the rest of the stitching. Talk about variety! 🙂

I’m getting good cross-stitch practice with this project, and though I’m nowhere near the end of the section for this month, I’m totally enjoying it! When I reach the other end of this section, I’ll work on securing the borders.

I think this runner is the first ever cross-stitch project in my life that I diligently stuck with until I finished it. 🙂 It now adorns our coffee table.

Cross-stitched coffee table runner

Like I mentioned earlier, the different styles of the motifs and their connectors do work well together. I made a whole lot of mistakes along the way, and a whole lot of fixes and readjusting of patterns resulted. In the end, though, when I see the runner doing its thing, I forget all of that, and just feel happy and proud of my creation. ❤

Like this:

Still cross-stitching, no knitting. I’m making good progress on the coffee table runner. This is how a single motif looks, and I’ll have three of them across the runner.

I came up with this pattern inspired by a Pinterest pin for biscornu (which, since a long time, leads to a site under maintenance though) and a super-simple dots-and-curves Rangoli that I gave a Celtic look to. (Here on Pinterest are some dots-and-curves Rangolis of higher intricacy.) This combination might appear weird 🙂 but for me, it is a happy combination of two different styles and looks, and best of all, it seems to work.

One thing I didn’t count on was how confusing working on this pattern would be. I’ve made umpteen mistakes already, and ended up correcting them (or just letting them be because they won’t be noticeable much.) This is definitely not a binge-watch project, though that’s how I’ve been working on it. I really should be thankful for the rewind button so I can catch the dialogue or action that I missed while I became absorbed in the stitch count — or worse, realized that I’ve made a mistake yet again and tried to figure out how many stitches I’ll have to undo. 😛

I’m having a lot of fun with this runner, though, and seeing my stitching quality improve as I work is a bonus. 🙂 It’s a welcome break from knitting, and I think I’ll attempt a cross-stitch project now and then when I’m done with this one — maybe a runner, maybe something smaller.

More than eight months ago, I’d started working on a coffee table runner, wanting to make cross-stitch motifs on it. I’d made an edging on some aida cloth of suitable size, and actually came up with a pattern after some pinning bouts on Pinterest caused flashes of inspiration, and then…

Nothing. I stuffed the cloth in my cupboard, and continued knitting and making jewelry and stuff. Now and then, I’d remember this project and would feel guilty that I haven’t continued working on it, but not guilty enough to take it out of its prison. Well, until recently.

It’s finally out. And I finished making a border. My cross-stitch is rusty, and the border isn’t very neat, but I’m getting better as I continue, and the motif is turning out neater — not so bad at all. It’s going to be a while before I finish this, but I’m not feeling like knitting much these days, and I’ll be working on this instead, so it’ll go much faster than the zero progress that I made all this while. 😀

Not the athletic kind of runner — it’s the coffee table kind I’m talking about. With the yarn left over from the Tiny triangles top project, I decided to first do some cross stitch, something that I haven’t done in a long, long while. Yarn that still remains after the cross stitch project — and there’ll be plenty left — will be used in a crochet project that has been kinda forming in my head.

At least, that’s the plan. 🙂

So I dug up some old cross stitch supplies — aida cloth and embroidery hoop from about fifteen years ago, I think. 😮 I’m surprised the fabric’s threads are still strong. There were also a few skeins of random colors in that bag, and I definitely need to use them sometime (but not for this project.) The cloth is big enough for a runner or two, and I thought I’ll make one for the coffee table in our living room.

I’m thinking of making three side-by-side motifs on it — they’ll all be the same motif or a combination of two motifs as A-B-A. I’ve been looking for inspiration and pinning stuff to my Pinterest board since then. As you might have guessed, the board mostly has the sort of stuff that I probably won’t make anytime soon. 😀 During my ‘quest’ for inspiration, I came across a lot of patterns for ‘biscornu‘s, which are apparently small, 8-sided, stuffed ornamental pincushions. Huh. They’re kinda weird cute. I might make one though I don’t use a pincushion. 😉

Anyway, while I wait for inspiration to strike, I’ve finished making an edging for the runner to help prevent future unraveling of the fabric.

And KG’s top-down sweater is going on — I’ve finished the waist, and have now started the below-waist pattern section. No photos of that for a while, though. 😐